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Henry Lee, the famed forensic scientist who helped bring modern crime scene investigation into the public spotlight through his involvement in high-profile cases like the O.J. Simpson murder trial, has died. He was 87.<\/p>\n
Lee \u201cpassed away peacefully\u201d Friday at his home in Henderson, Nevada, following a brief illness, according to a statement from his family and the University of New Haven, where he taught for more than 50 years. <\/p>\n
Lee rose to fame after his testimony in Simpson’s 1995 trial, in which he questioned the handling of blood evidence. He also served as a consultant in other well known investigations, including the 1996 slaying of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey in Colorado; the 2004 murder trial of Scott Peterson, who was accused of killing his pregnant wife, Laci; and the 2007 murder trial of record producer Phil Spector. <\/p>\n
But Lee\u2019s work drew scrutiny in his later years, with a 2023 federal court ruling<\/a> finding him liable for fabricating evidence in a 1985 murder case that sent two Connecticut men to prison for decades.<\/p>\n Born in China, the 11th of 13 children, Lee and his family moved to Taiwan where were he earned a degree in police administration and became a police officer and later a captain. He and his late wife moved to the U.S. in 1964, where he earned advanced degrees in forensic science and biochemistry.<\/p>\n He first gained prominence for his work in Connecticut investigating the 1986 disappearance of flight attendant Helle Crafts \u2014 using tiny fragments of bone, a thumb tip, a tooth crown and pieces of hair found near her home to help authorities make the case that Craft’s husband had cut up her body and disposed of it in a wood chipper. Prosecutors were able to win a conviction despite having no body.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes they compare me to Sherlock Holmes or Charlie Chan. Those are just fictional characters,\u2033 Lee was quoted as saying in a 2000 article, as he stepped down as commissioner of the Connecticut State Police. \u201cIn real life, the scientists, detectives and public have to work together. … We don\u2019t get commercial breaks.\u201d<\/p>\n Lee continued to work on high-profile cases, but in 2020, a state judge vacated<\/a> the 1985 murder convictions of two men who had been found guilty in part<\/a> based on testimony about what Lee said at the time were bloodstains on a towel. Tests done after the trial, when the men were appealing their convictions, showed the stains were not blood.<\/p>\n